Spectre poised to end Daniel Craig’s James Bond run on a box office high note

Skyfall may be a hard act to follow, but Spectre looks to be up to the job. The latest James Bond film arrives in U.S. theaters next week, and analysts expect it to have an $80 million opening, reports Variety.

The spy film hit theaters in the U.K. on Oct. 26 and quickly began smashing box office records. According to reports, Spectre had the country’s highest-grossing Tuesday and Wednesday ever, bringing in $24.5 million in its first two days. Numbers are expected to swell going into the weekend, potentially even over taking Skyfall in Bond’s home country.

Sources tell Variety that Sony hopes to open in at least the mid-$60 million range, but the latest 007 flick (and 24th in the franchise) is reportedly on course to do much better. If it does hit the expected $80 million mark in the U.S., it won’t be enough to overtake Skyfall, but it would still be very impressive. And while Spectre shares an opening weekend with The Peanuts Movie, a Fox film projected to bring in around $40 million, Skyfall faced much less competition.

Skyfall‘s performance was as impressive globally as it was domestically. The film grossed over $1 billion worldwide, a mission no other Bond film so far has managed to accomplish. It’ll be interesting to see how Spectre fares; like Skyfall, it comes from director Sam Mendes and stars Daniel Craig. Both factors should be a huge draw for fans of the movies.